Hello!

Hi there! My name is Jody! I am a wife, mama, and own the Fabric Shoppe! I love to find BEAUTY in EVERYDAY life! I hope to inspire you here with fabrics, tutorials, recipes, and crafty inspiration! Stop back often and enjoy!

November 04, 2011

Here's a bit of what's going on at our house this week via grainy cell phone pics. I am linking up to Insta- Friday at Life Rearranged. You should too! It's fun!

This week I got to visit an old friend! She has the most welcoming home! I love this tree on her deck that has twinkle lights on it all year round. Such a happy thing to look out at! I will definitely be doing this when we build our deck!

I also liked this potted topiary rosemary *i think* in her kitchen! Wondering where one can get one of those!

I made a princess dress with a little help from grandma out of tulle and some sequin elastic sewn to a shirt! My 3 year old was in heaven!

Both my little princess were happy to meet some new friends in our neighborhood that night!

My friend Christy and I took a day trip to visit another good friend who just had a baby. I got to welcome little baby Paige into the world and got some good baby snuggles!

A little tummy time on the minky blanket I made for her! Love those super soft fabric!

Here momma's been getting crafty with fabrics from the shoppe! Covered these canvases and then the lampshade!

We stopped at Anthropologie on the way home and i got this ceramic berry bowl (that looks like the cardboard things that berries come in) and little butter dish that holds 1/2 a stick! So mini!

We got a new juicer a few months ago and my hubby made this juice last night. It was delish! We had run out of greens so it was apple, carrot, beet, lemon. Tasted like dessert! YUM! Do you have any fave juice recipes?

One of my fabric reps stopped by this week as I had skipped fall quilt market so she showed me the market releases! She brings bags and bags and books and books of samples and I order away! Making sure to pick the cutest lines for my amazing customers!

*pretty Amy butler laminates*

So that was my week! How was yours! Be sure to leave a comment so I can hop on over to your site and visit!

October 20, 2011

Here's a bit of what's going on at our house this week via grainy cell phone pics. I am linking up to Insta- Friday at Life Rearranged. You should too! It's fun!

My mums are in full bloom in front of each side of the garage! I love them!

To add some more fall decor around here I made a bittersweet wreath from some real bittersweet gathered at a friends house. I put it on the back/side door of the garage. It's small but it makes me smile!

Here is another pumpkin added to the kitchen area above my cookbooks!

We have continued our food adventures here! I am so excited to be able to stock our pantry and freezer for the winter with fresh local organic food! We started out the weekend with a visit to the local farmers market and apple orchard and picked up another 1/2 bushel of tomatoes, 3 pounds of concord grapes, and 15 more pounds of apples along with some local beef and bacon for some winter soups. We started with the concord grapes.

They were so sweet. They smelled almost like grape soda. Sooo sweet!! We made low sugar grape jelly. Which both my hubby and I agreed was *way* too labor intensive and long. Next time we will stick to jam or preserves! We made tomato sauce out of the tomatos! Here are some of our helpers cranking the food mill.

And drum roll please! I actally made something from Pinterest this week! Cut the top off my salt container which had ran out and it fits perfectly inside a wide mouth jar ring. Brilliant! Great for storing those bulk grains like my ground flax seed here!

Made a chicken pot pie for dinner tonight, and one for the freezer!

This is what it looks like after quiet time in my girls room! I don't think much resting was going on in that bed!:) Not sure why I even spend money on book shelves? At least the books are getting enjoyed. Right?

A few of you have said you wanted to see a few pics of the Shoppe and I promise to do some more of those soon! This is what my good sized entry way looks like many days around 5pm as my hubby is coming home. Sorry babe! Totally full of boxes, and bolts, and other stuff that was dropped off late afternoon! The UPS guy drops off boxes fairly late, like betweet 5 and 6 so they often sit there till after the kiddos are in bed or the next morning! We {my assistant and I} then process them in the morning!

So that's where the magic begins! I know, super exciting! I will post more pics of the Shoppe soon! Thanks for stopping by for insta friday! Leave a comment so i can hop on over to your blog!

October 13, 2011

Here's a bit of what's going on at our house this week via grainy cell phone pics. I am linking up to Insta- Friday at Life Rearranged. You should too! It's fun!

My husband's hobby this winter is to be researching how to put in a garden at our new house. We have never had one so we have much to learn! We took a trip to the library after dinner and got this stack to get us started...

And soooo we also took on a compost pile. We got a bin on mega clearance so decided rather than buy our compost next spring we might as well make some. Here is my little bowl of food scraps to be brought out. I still need to search for a canistar or something. What do you use for your compost scraps?

I had been trying my hand at couponing and had a good trip to Wallgreens this week! got this haul for about $1.90!

We have been making and canning applesauce, apple butter, and I picked up some delicious tart apples at church for *free* this sunday so I made this apple pie filling! So yummy! And it will be heavenly to make {or buy} a piecrust around the holidays and just dump in and bake! *In season* apple pie all winter long!

We did an Alzheimers walk last this Saturday with a family who is being affected by the disease. The girls don't look to happy there but we all had fun and purposed to talk to our older one about helping out others every time we are able! Thanks to friends and family who donated!

October 06, 2011

I recently helped host a simple baby shower for an old friend and college roommate! It was fun to put a few details together for the small group. I might be biased but fabrics are a fun and inexpensive way to coordinate all the little details for a shower or party. Lines of fabric are made to match so pick a line and easy-peasy. I went with fabrics that coordinated with the baby room colors. Vintage mint, pink and brown from the Just Dandy line in the Fabric Shoppe! First I made this simple pendant banner to use for decoration at the shower which then the new mama could take home for the baby room. We held the shower at Turtle Bread Co in Minneapolis. Yummm!

I also made a orange sugar scrub as a favor for the girls attending! Baby food jars are perfect {and cheap or free}. All you need is sugar, a light oil{i used light olive oil} and an essential oil of your choice.There are natural alpha hydroxy's in sugar so it makes your skin look and feel amazing! Just mix up till you like the consistancy and add essential oils until you like the smell! You don't even need a recipe. Honestly!

Add fabric and twine to the jars for instant cuteness!

I wrapped the gifts in plain brown craft paper then taped a strip of leftover fabric around it attaching it on the bottom with packing tape. Then just add a bit of twine to finish it off.

The banner got a little wrinkled in transit but still *ADORABLE*.

Favors and cake!Really simple details that were inexpensive and easy to do! I probably used less than a yard total of fabric. Great deal considering it covered decor, favors and gift wrap! A fat quarter bundle from your favorite line would work perfectly for projects like these. You may want 1/4 yard cuts for the wrapping paper project!

September 29, 2011

There's a lot of fabric, quilting and crafting that goes on on the blog here every week so when I saw the Insta Friday party going on every friday at Life Rearranged, I thought it would be a great way to get a little more personal every week! Since it is just cell phone pics I think i can stay on top of it! {i think i can, i think i can}

So here's a few phone pic peeks {say that 5 times fast} into our home this week. We have been on a healthy food kick and trying to use all our new grains from whole foods. I found this recipe for Quinoa and black beans! The girls both loved it! See that big smile! It was actually De.Lish!

My bestie Christy came over for some much needed craft time! Love it! I am so proud of her, she is learning to sew and catching on quick! We made the cute little A-frame tents you have seen pinned all over pinterest. The one in the background is half done. I picked that fabric because my 3 year old gushes over it anytime she sees it in the Shoppe! "Oh mommy i just love this heart fabric." I will post more on that project later. Super easy and fun for the kiddos!

Nothing better than homemade pizza and red wine. I am usually not a fan of red wine but with pizza it just goes. I *am* liking the pre-made pizza dough from Trader Joe's for $1.20. How do you make your pizza dough? I am wondering if i can freeze some in batches? HMMmm.

It is definitely fall here which always puts me in the mood to organize and decorate! I put out a few pumpkins. Many more to come! This is on our pie safe in the living room!

I got a new devotional by Sarah Young that i have been meaning to pick up for at least 4 years. It comes with rave reviews and I have been enjoying the encouraging words in the morning while my littles eat their breakfast.

It has helped me to remember that I am soooo blessed even when my little ones turn my clean living room into this in 2.5 seconds *EVERY* morning. Cause I know there will come a time when I will wish there were little dollies and princess tiaras all over the floor to pick up!

Oh and the Insta-Challenge was show a DIY project so here is my finished tent residing in the toy room!

Thanks for stopping by for insta- friday! Come back soon! And thanks to Life.rearranged for hosting this every week! I love it!

September 14, 2011

Well, I held it together despite this event here today! My little one is getting so big. I love these printables that I got from How Does She! I printed off all the years and will file them away for all our first days of school! {sniff, sniff}